Mountain Views News          Saturday, April 19, 2014

SECTION BSATURDAY, APRIL 19, 2014 
AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY 
“What’s Going On?”
News and Views from Joan Schmidt 
CONGRESSWOMAN JUDY CHU’S 5TH ANNUAL WOMEN OF DISTINCTION LUNCHEON 
SECTION BSATURDAY, APRIL 19, 2014 
AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY 
“What’s Going On?”
News and Views from Joan Schmidt 
CONGRESSWOMAN JUDY CHU’S 5TH ANNUAL WOMEN OF DISTINCTION LUNCHEON 
This past Saturday,
sixteen amazing Women of 
Distinction were honored byCongresswoman Judy Chu,
representing the 27th District’s 
sixteen cities.

 Festivities began with a warmwelcome from ABC Channel 
7’s David Ono, who marveledat what a beautiful communitySierra Madre is, and how he 
enjoyed driving up the tree-
lined streets with vintage houses.

Mayor Nancy Walsh 
thanked everyone for comingand introduced Judy Chu, thefirst Chinese American elected to Congress. Judy, herself womanof distinction, attained her BA in Math and her doctorate inpsychology, which she taught at Los Angeles City College and EastLA College. After her twenty years of teaching, Judy was elected to 
the Garvey School Board, the Monterey Park City Council, StateBoard of Equalization and ultimately Congress.

Judy’s energy has no bounds. She shared the first eight honorees’background and then called them up in much enthusiasm. After 
lunch, the other eight ladies were honored. The honorees include 
the following:

Alhambra’s Adele Andrade-Stadler, an early childhood 
educator, past school board member, and director of The Foothill 
Developmental School, a non-profit providing special services for 
San Gabriel Valley students, is knowledgeable about California andnational public school issues. Adele has impacted the students ofthe Alhambra School District. 

Altadena’s Dr. Sandra Thomas firmly believes economicchallenges should never overshadow achievement. A most highlyregarded voice in Altadena; she founded the Quality of Life CenterInc., where she serves as Dean of Scholars for more than 500 ofthe highest academic achievers in the Bright Futures ScholarsLeadership Development Program from local high schools.
(Months ago, I met Sandra at Altadena Sheriff’s Station, where shealso volunteers.) Pictured below Photo by J. Schmidt/MVNews

“Our nation has a history of taking strides thanks to women willing to lead. Today we celebrate 16 women who have 
embraced that notion whole-heartedly, and are making our communities the wonderful places that they are to call home. 

From small businesses owners to volunteers to local officials, the leadership they provide does more than improve lives 

today – you set an example and ensure there will be future leaders to do the same tomorrow.” 

- Congresswoman Judy Chu Photo courtesy of The Office of Congresswoman Chu 
experiences and services.

Monrovia’s Donna Baker is the City’s number 1 real estate agentand serves as Historic Preservation Commissioner. There is no 
limit to her volunteerism. Donna travels to Thailand for Habitat for 

Humanity projects and supports many community organizations,
including Monrovia schools, Door of Hope, youth baseball, FoothillUnity Center, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Foothills.
Monterey Park’s Chua Hua is active in religious affairs andsupporter of Buddhist charities has set up a women’s choir, anannual scholarship fund for colleges, high schools and primaryschools students while serving on the California Fukienese 
Association. Chau also works with the senior citizen communityand has held “Mid-Autumn Festival” parties to honor seniors withgifts and quarterly birthday parties.
Pasadena’s Tracey Cooper-Harris is active in networking withother veterans to bring awareness to civilians on veterans’ issuesand to assist veterans as they transition from the battlefield to backhome. As a member of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America(IAVA), she was part of a 30-member IAVA team who visitedlawmakers in Washington, D.C. to fight high rates of veterans’ 
unemployment, push for more benefits and healthcare and confrontthe issues of veteran and military suicide.
Rosemead’s Council Member Polly Low served as its first Chinese 
American female mayor. While in office, her city implemented astrong graffiti removal program, many beautification projects and 
Arcadia’s Sandy Ho believes in serving her community withprofessionalism and expertise. She also is the founding President ofthe Arcadia Chinese American Association and Commissioner of 
the City of Arcadia Beautiful Committee.

Bradbury’s Serena Burnett has been in the legal field since 1980.
She has been a partner in the Dog Star Kennels since 1987 and isthe President of Animalzona Wildlife Foundation, an advocacyorganization involved in the rescue of domestically bred exotic cats.

Claremont’s Dr. Monica Argandona is currently the SouthernCalifornia Conservation Director and has been with the California 
Wilderness Coalition since January 2007. With a Ph.D. in 
Anthropology with a focus on environment, cultural and politicalecology from the UC Riverside, she is currently an AssociateProfessor at the University of La Verne while teaching CaliforniaEnvironmental Issues at CA State Long Beach.

Glendora’s Nikke Vittale, the owner and buyer of Fiorina, awomen’s contemporary clothing boutique founded in Glendora in2003 after she saw the void in the valley for such a store. Fiorina’s isa fashion destination where women of all ages and sizes can build an 
entire wardrobe. In 2009, Nikke founded the Ardent Group, which 
enriches women’s lives by providing them with unique products, 

great strategic plan. Polly has been involved with the Bone MarrowDrive, a Holiday Lunch for Low Income Families and is President 
of the Chinese American Elected Officials Organization.

San Gabriel’s Denise Menchaca, a member of their School Board, 
has helped lead change by appointing strong pro-active and positiveleadership to the board: Superintendent, Assistant Superintendents,
Principals and Assistant Principals. Denise is a Founding Memberof the San Gabriel United Community Activist Coalition and theSan Gabriel Unified School District Wellness Council. 

San Marino’s Dr. Grace Huang is a board certified cardiologist. 
Over the last several years, she has been especially vested in clinical 
and translational research, including improving survival in patientswith acute coronary syndrome, treatment of prosthetic heart valvethrombosis, and regenerative therapy for cardiovascular disease. 
Grace’s work has been published in the American College ofCardiology, Circulation, the American Journal of Medicine, and 
the Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research. 

Sierra Madre’s Amy Putnam moved to California in 1992 and 
became an Assistant Professor of Accounting at CAL Poly Pomonaand an adjunct Professor of Accounting at USC. Over the pasttwo years, Amy has been proud to have replaced the dilapidatedMt. Wilson Trail Park sign in cooperation with the City of Sierra 
Madre and installed a native plant garden as a teaching gardenwith specimens found of the historic Mt. Wilson Trail. She hasimplemented the publication of a bimonthly newsletter, and offersbimonthly historic education programs to the community free of 
charge.

South Pasadena’s Dr. Marina Khubesrian was the first Armenian-
born Mayor nationwide. She is passionate about preserving andenhancing the quality of life for South Pasadena families. Shesupports the work of Doctors without Borders, National Women’s 
Political Caucus (NWPC) and Women in South Pasadena Political 
Action. (WISPPS).

Temple City’s Lucy Liou is a member of the Citizens’ OversightCommittee for the bond measure, is a volunteer with the TempleStation Neighborhood Watch as an area leader, volunteers once aweek at Temple Station, and has received Community EmergencyResponse Team (CERT) training. Lucy also is the American RedCross Ambassador for Temple City.

Sandy Forney of Upland has been in the food business since she 
was eight years old. In 1983, she established a full service cateringcompany. She obtained and continues to maintain the necessarycounty and state permits and licenses. She has acted as a generalcontractor in employing all electrical, building and designingengineers to develop and construct the kitchen, warehouses andoffices to the required specifications and generated the business, 
marketing and advertising plans to launch the business.

Congratulations to sixteen awesome Women of Distinction! 


COLORADO RIVER PROJECT VITAL TO SOCAL


 By: Cynthia Kurtz, President San Gabriel Valley Economic Development 

Southern California's economy - the 
eighth largest in the world - requires a 
mix of ingredients among them skilled 
labor, materials, power, a transportation 
system, markets and water. Southern 
California is blessed with natural 
resources that make it easy to find, make, 
or bring many of these ingredients here. 
Water is the notable exception. 

As you know, we are experiencing a 
serious drought and finding enough 
water is a problem. It isn't a new problem. 
In the 1930's Southern California leaders 
realized that the lack of water was the 
Achilles heel of the region's future. 
Their solutions had all the makings of 
a Hollywood fiction film but it is a true 
story. 

It started in the San Gabriel Valley 
when elected official from 13 cities met 
in Pasadena to discuss their mutual 
problem - the region was running out of 
water. To them, the answer was simple. 
They needed to find a place with a 
surplus of water and bring that water to 
Southern California. 

What they ultimately resolved to 
do became one of the most complex 
engineering solutions ever designed. 
The place they found that had water 
was in another state separated by 242 
miles of mountains, deserts, rocks, and 

scorching temperatures. 

Accepting the challenges, the 
determined group moved ahead and 
created the Metropolitan Water District 
of Southern California. In January 
1933 Metropolitan began building the 
Colorado River Aqueduct. With $220 
million of voter approved bond funding 

- that is right $220 million in the middle 
of the depression. Everyone knows you 
need water. 
Without the federal government's 
decision to tame the flood waters of 
the Colorado River by building Hoover 
Dam, the Colorado River Aqueduct 
would not have been possible. Hoover 
Dam made it possible for Metropolitan 
to begin building Parker Dam which 
forms Lake Havasu a Mojave word 
meaning "blue." The lake is 45 miles long 
and stores 600,000 acre feet of water. 

The Whitsett Intake Pumping Station, 
the first of five pumping stations in the 
project, lifts water from Lake Havasu 
291-feet into Gene Wash Reservoir. Two 
miles west the Gene Pumping Station 
lifts water 303 feet into Copper Basin. 
From there gravity takes the water 
67 miles west through a network of 
aqueducts, pipelines and tunnels to Iron 
Mountain Pumping Station. Here the 
water is lifted 144 feet before it begins its 

41 mile trip to Eagle Mountain. 

The two largest lifts are the last the water 
reaches. Eagle Mountain Pumping 
Station lifts the water 438 into Cotton 
tunnel. Sixteen miles west, Julian Hinds 
Pumping Station lifts the water the last 
441 feet. 

It's all downhill from there - 116 miles 
down hill - towards Lake Mathews in 
Riverside County. Water from Lake 
Matthew goes to the Weymouth Water 
Treatment Plan in La Verne to serve the 
SGV and the metropolitan area beyond. 
Some water is diverted before it reaches 
the Lake and heads south to San Diego. 

The total trip includes 58 miles of 
pipeline, 63 miles of lined canals, 29 
miles of inverted siphons and 92 miles of 
tunnels. It took 35,000 workers working 
eight hour shifts, 24-hours a day, 365 
days a year, and eight years to complete 
the project. 

Those 13 leaders understood that big 
problems needed big solutions. That was 
true then and it is true today. 

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com